Rory McIlroy at Frys.com Open 2015: Sunday Leaderboard Score and Reaction
Rory McIlroy had little chance to get back into contention during Sunday's final round at the Frys.com Open.
Already eyeing the Race to Dubai across the pond, McIlroy did close well in the 2015-16 PGA Tour season opener at Silverado Country Club in Napa, California, finishing with a three-under 69.
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That got McIlroy to nine under par for the tournament, which was good enough for share of 26th place—six shots behind Kevin Na and Emiliano Grillo. Grillo won the tournament following a two-hole sudden-death playoff.
A brief fog delay prevented the leaders from teeing off as scheduled, though McIlroy's day was done well before the winner was determined more due to how off the pace he was.
Here is a look at McIlroy's final-round scorecard:
| Par | 4 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 36 |
| Score | 4 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 35 |
| Overall | E | E | E | +1 | E | -1 | -1 | -1 | -1 | -1 |
| Par | 4 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 36 |
| Score | 4 | 2 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 34 |
| Overall | -1 | -2 | -1 | -1 | -1 | -2 | -3 | -3 | -3 | -3 |
After a bogey at No. 4 on Sunday, McIlroy did bounce back with two approach shots inside five feet on the next two holes and made birdies from close range to get into red figures for the day.
McIlroy missed the green at the par-three 11th but still managed to birdie from off the green, only to surrender a stroke at the next because of a tee shot that flared way right and out of bounds.
The subsequent par three was kind to McIlroy as well when he stuck his first shot to three feet and made another birdie. McIlroy had one more tap-in birdie at the par-five 16th when he hit a pitch shot to approximately two feet.
The biggest story to emerge from McIlroy's week came from Saturday, when a blind tee shot from Emiliano Grillo nearly struck him on the reachable par-four 17th hole, per GolfChannel.com's Ryan Lavner. What McIlroy had to say after the incident was most memorable, courtesy of ESPN.com's Bob Harig:
Otherwise it was a forgettable outing for the past world No. 1 whose putter continues to fail him—he registered a negative strokes-gained-putting figure in all four rounds at the Frys.com Open. At the time he finished his round, McIlroy was 71st in the field in that statistic, which goes to show just how much of a struggle it's been for him with the shortest club in his bag.
The Frys.com Open featured a jam-packed leaderboard and a tournament that was well within McIlroy's grasp if he could have rolled the rock better.
Justin Ray of Golf Channel alluded to where McIlroy stands among golf's biggest legends through his 100th start:
"Rory in w/69, finishes 100th @PGATOUR start. Rory has 11 wins thru 100 starts. Tiger had 22, Jack 14. Rory obv lot of European Tour, too.
— Justin Ray (@JustinRayGC) October 18, 2015"
Because of his talent level and accomplishments to date, the 26-year-old superstar will continue to be measured against the best to ever play the game.
McIlroy can take solace in the fact he logged at least some FedEx Cup points for the new PGA Tour season rather than waiting until after his offseason to tee it up stateside. If he can just get the putter going, McIlroy has a real chance to end the calendar year in stupendous fashion.
Next up for McIlroy is the Race to Dubai on the European Tour. There are three tournaments for McIlroy to focus on across the pond as he tries to capture the major tour's postseason title for the third time in his career.
Note: Stats courtesy of PGATour.com unless otherwise indicated.
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